


Leaders

by Roselightfairy



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Annabeth at Camp Jupiter, F/M, Gen, I'm bad at fight scenes please just go with it, Reyna and Annabeth are the real leaders okay, camp-swap AU, sort of implied almost-Jason/Reyna
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-05
Updated: 2018-03-04
Packaged: 2019-03-27 06:09:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13874790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Roselightfairy/pseuds/Roselightfairy
Summary: "An exchange of leaders was necessary," said Juno.  But what if she had made a different choice?  A series of oneshots (mostly Annabeth-centric) that take place in an AU where Annabeth and Reyna were swapped instead - much to Juno's displeasure.





	1. The Daughter of Minerva

**Author's Note:**

> You know when you find yourself complaining that something doesn't exist, and then complaining a little more, and then realizing that if you want it to exist you'll have to write it yourself? That was this story. The idea of a Reyna/Annabeth swap is not new, but what I realized is that most people, in attempting to rewrite the entire series, never get much further than a few chapters in Reyna's POV. And what I'm really interested in is Annabeth at Camp Jupiter.
> 
> So this is a series of bits and pieces taking place in an AU where Juno switched Annabeth and Reyna instead of Percy and Jason (because let's be real, they're the real camp leaders). I've also decided that Juno did not actually _intend_ for the girls to get switched, mostly because it amuses me.
> 
> Couples: established Annabeth/Percy; implied almost-Jason/Reyna; everything else will be as canon as I can make it. Also, this will probably never get finished, but that's why I made it a series of oneshots instead.
> 
> Also posted on ff.net.

The gorgons were back.

It was the cackling that gave them away: the loud, raucous voices behind Annabeth that were getting too loud, far too fast.  Apparently, these two weren’t easy to get rid of.

This wasn’t a new realization.  She’d sort of gotten that sense the first two times she’d killed them, when they’d fallen to dust and started reforming again before she could even resheathe her knife. So she knew it wasn’t like getting rid of them would be easy.

But she’d thought she’d lost them for good a few days ago when she’d set them on that false trail along the West Coast.  Had thought they’d make it all the way up to Washington by the time they noticed she wasn’t there, by which point she would manage to find someplace safe.

Who knew? Maybe they had, and they were just really, really fast.

“Annabeth Chase!” screamed Euryale.  “We will have our revenge!”

“Styx,” she muttered, and could practically hear Lupa scolding her in her head.  She knew she was a demigod, which meant she was supposed to speak Latin easily on top of her first language.  But for some reason, whenever she stopped thinking about it too hard, the Greek names kept popping into her head instead.  Lupa kept trying to condition her not to use them, but not only was it hard, Annabeth couldn’t shake the feeling that it meant something.

And, considering almost all of her memory was gone, she wanted to have as much as possible to examine.

She’d hoped that with the gorgons gone she’d get a bit of a break, but that was not to be.  Not all monsters were as hard to kill as they were – or rather, once they’d been killed once, they tended to give up on you as prey and go find someone else – but there had been more than a few of them.  Annabeth hadn’t sustained any massive injuries, thank the gods, but there were shallow cuts, _so_ many bruises, and she hadn’t gotten more sleep than few-hour snatches here and there.  So she hadn’t had any chance to really probe into her mind and figure out if she had any more memories than the few clearest.  Her fighting abilities, that strange knowledge of Greek that kept popping into her head, her own name – and one other.

 _Percy_.

She didn’t remember much about him, but there were some associations that came up every time she thought of him.  Green eyes, a smell of salt water, and – something about seaweed?  It was slippery and hard to pin down, but she knew there was something important there.  Something important to her.

The gorgons – Euryale and Stheno, she knew from having heard them talk to one another, but the names were familiar even beyond that – were drawing closer now.  Annabeth ran, mind racing furiously, trying to think of a plan to get rid of them.  Cars were lined up all along the roadsides, but – despite the fact that she had no memory – something inside her warned her that she had never learned how to drive.

She wished she had.

Lupa had told her she would know the end of her journey when she found it, and she could feel that it was close.  Maybe if she could just outrun them, she would make it there before them.  Could get to safety.

But – something felt _off_.

She knew that the end of her journey was close by, and she knew that she didn’t have much choice but to go there, but it was like a blaring voice in her head.  _Wrong, wrong, wrong_.  _Wrong_ , you are not welcome here, this is not your home.  _Wrong_ , turn around and run in the opposite direction.

But she couldn’t, because there were Gorgons in front of her.  So she ran forward instead, followed the internal radar blaring two messages at her at the same time –

Followed it to the top of a hill from which there was no easy escape.

She was cornered.

Cursing – herself, for getting so distracted; the Gorgons, for existing – she drew her knife and turned around.

“Annabeth Chase!” hooted Euryale.  “Nowhere to run now!”

“Cheese ‘n’ Wiener?” offered Stheno helpfully, brandishing a tray.  She was still wearing her uniform and carrying the tray from the Bargain Mart where Annabeth had run into them.  She’d been starving, but not yet at a stealing point, so she’d decided to go trolling for samples, and accidentally found far more than she was looking for.

“Delicious as those sound,” Annabeth said lightly, stalling more on instinct than anything else as her eyes scanned around for any escape route, “I’m not very hungry.  But I’m impressed with your dedication!”  Flattery tended to get you places.  “The Bargain Mart people should really give you a raise.”

Stheno looked down at her uniform as though she was only just considering that.  “Yes!” she agreed.  Then she frowned.  “They don’t pay me at all!”

“Not at all?”  Okay, there was no way Annabeth was getting down this hill – at least, not from this position.  If she could distract them enough to inch around them, though – it looked a little less steep off to the right, and her internal radar was telling her she was in exactly the right spot, just too high up.  “Isn’t that illegal?  There are workers’ rights laws, you know.  Have you ever considered a labor union?”

“No!” squawked Euryale, smacking her sister’s arm.  Annabeth took that distraction to shift just a couple of inches to the right, and the Gorgons reoriented their position as though without even realizing it.  “The Bargain Mart was a front, you idiot!  We don’t work there!”

“Really?”  Annabeth feigned curiosity, even as her mind tried to calculate angles and slopes.  “Have you ever considered a career change?  It looks like you’ve found your calling, and that uniform suits you so well!”

Stheno – definitely the weaker link – looked down at herself and preened.  “It does!” she agreed.

Euryale groaned again, and Annabeth shifted position once more.  “We don’t have time for side careers!” she howled.  “We’re on a revenge quest!”

“Revenge, really?” said Annabeth.  As long as they didn’t realize they were giving away information, she might as well get some of her own.  Of course, it was entirely possible that they were talking about her, given that she couldn’t remember anything about her life.  But they might be able to help fill it in.  She might not know much, but she did know that in a choice between safety and knowledge, she would choose knowledge every time.  “Against whom?”

“You!” screamed Euryale, lunging forward.

Annabeth dodged – and, incidentally, moved just a little further in the right direction.  “Hey, hey, let’s calm down a minute here!” she protested.  “If you’re going to kill me, don’t I at least to get to know why?  I don’t remember anything, so you’re going to have to tell me what I did to make you want revenge on me.”

“Our sister!” cried Stheno, samples for the moment forgotten.  She brandished the platter, and the sun glanced off of it in a ray of light.  Annabeth’s eyes seized on it.  _Hmm_.  “We smell her blood on you!”

Right.  The conversation.  _Sister_ . . . Annabeth’s mind scanned back through her knowledge of the Gorgons.  All she had was what she’d learned with Lupa, which was frustrating, because she was pretty sure she should know a lot more.  But she did remember . . . “Medusa?” she guessed.  “Her blood is on me?”

“You were the last to kill her!” wailed Euryale.  “You and that upstart, Percy Jackson!”

Annabeth froze.  Plans for the moment forgotten – her heart sped up, her throat constricted.  _Percy_.  He had a last name now.  _Percy Jackson_.

Luckily, Euryale didn’t notice.  “Our patron told us he would be here,” she complained, “but we will settle for you!”

“Percy Jackson?” managed Annabeth.  She tried hard to keep her voice light, but it was difficult.  “Who is he?”

“Don’t play dumb, spawn of Athena!”  Annabeth’s blood sparked and fizzed at that last word, but she had to put it aside to focus on Euryale’s bloodthirsty eyes now.  “You may not have struck the final blow, but you killed her just as much as he did!”

“Look, I’m sorry.”  She tried to keep her voice light, but she could tell she was running out of time.  “Like I said, I don’t remember anything.  But maybe if you’d tell me who your patron is, I can get you in touch with Percy Jackson.  That way you can take your revenge on him, too.”

It was a pretty thin excuse to her, and clearly to them as well.  “We don’t need you to get us in touch with her!” Euryale cried.  “She is everywhere – right beneath your feet!”  But before Annabeth could start making any sense of that, the Gorgons’ patience finally ran out.  “But enough talk!” she howled, launching herself forward.  “Now we kill you!”

The plate.  She had to get to the plate.  She tucked and rolled forward under Euryale’s legs, but if she ran, they would just catch her now.  Stheno, yelling, “Cheese ‘n’ Wieners!” had thrown herself into battle as well, and as Annabeth surged to her feet, they came face to face –

She moved fast.  Slashed Stheno across the throat with her dagger, and before the Gorgon could even begin to crumble into dust, Annabeth snatched the plate away from her, tossed the samples into Euryale’s face, whirled to face the hill – no time to double-check the angle now – and threw herself forward.

* * *

Sledding down a non-snowy hill on a snack platter, Annabeth found, was not fun.

She didn’t scream, but that was hardly from any kind of superior self-control – rather, screaming took more energy than not, and she was too busy focusing every ounce of her concentration on not dying.

Not that there was much she could do.

It was luck, more than anything else, that carried her down the hill in one piece, though more than a little banged up.  Bruises upon bruises anyway, and her shirt was already so tattered and faded that she couldn’t read what it said, so what were a few more scrapes and knocks?  When she hit a rock (painfully bruising her tailbone) thankfully near the bottom, the tray finally gave up.  It bounced off, shot forward across an entire highway, and launched Annabeth into the air.

Again, she tucked and rolled.  Came to a stop in a clump of prickle-bushes, because why not?  But as she finally came to a rest, she did a quick mental scan and came up with no serious injuries.  Somehow.

Struggling to her feet was hard, though.  Pure exhaustion on top of that drastic adrenaline rush and roll made her dizzy, and she swayed alarmingly before catching herself and turning around – to see the two gorgons approaching fast, on wings.

Oh, perfect.

But she was close.  She just needed to cross this street, and she’d get where she needed to go.  Forget the wrongness.  Right now, Annabeth just needed to get away.

So, of course, that was when the old lady showed up.  “Annabeth Chase!” she said.

Annabeth hated her before she even turned around, and when she did finally get a look at the woman, she hated her even more.  She was old and homeless-looking, but that wasn’t what got Annabeth.  It wasn’t even the smell – Annabeth herself was in no place to judge.  It was the face.  The gleeful look in her eyes, as though she were taking pleasure in Annabeth’s misery.

“What do you want?” she asked, in no mood to be polite.

“Why, a lift, of course!” giggled the woman, as though making Annabeth uncomfortable was the best part of her day.  “Literally, in fact.  I want you to carry me to camp?”

“Camp.”  Despite everything, Annabeth savored the word.  There was something about _camp_ that made it synonymous with _home_.  “But that’s – that’s camp?”  She looked across the road at the tunnel entrance, where she could just make out two small figures.

“Indeed it is!” cackled the woman.  “So now you have a choice, daughter of Minerva.”  Like when Euryale had said _Athena_ earlier, something in Annabeth perked up.  “You can leave me here and run.  The gorgons will be happy to attack me, and you will make it to safety.  I guarantee you can find a place.  But you will never get your memories back.”

That wasn’t an option.  Annabeth wished they could be having this chat when there weren’t two snake-haired women approaching far too quickly.  “And the other option?” she asked, teeth gritted.

“Give a helpless old woman a lift,” the lady repeated.  “Carry me to camp.  That way lies pain and suffering and difficult choices.  But it is the only way you will ever remember who you are.”

Frankly, Annabeth doubted that.  There was always another way.  But she also knew the stories – knew enough to know that when a random old woman showed up asking you to carry her, it was probably a god in disguise.  And that if there was anything you didn’t want to do, it was anger the gods – even though Annabeth had the sneaking suspicion that there was a reason she already hated this one.

And there was no more time to waste.  “All right,” she sighed.  “Hop on.”

The old woman babbled away at her as they careened across the highway, Annabeth trying to run, carry, and glance behind them at the same time.  The Gorgons were catching up quickly – but the tunnel entrance was so close, and as Annabeth approached it, she could see that the two people she was looking for were heavily armed.

Thank the gods.

“You can call me June,” the woman on her back – who seemed to be getting just a tiny bit heavier with every step – informed her.  “They named the month after me, after all!” and Annabeth, using every last ounce of her self-restraint, did not snap back that she didn’t care.

Stheno swooped so low that Annabeth tried to duck, stumbled, and avoided falling to her knees in front of a moving car.  She staggered forward and felt it whoosh by her, way too fast.  Stheno cackled, flying back up for another pass.  “Found a goddess to carry, did you?” she yelled.

Well, there was one suspicion confirmed.  Annabeth couldn’t think about it now, though.  Too busy running.

She was close enough now to see one of the sentries drawing back a bow.  Annabeth was too tired even to yell – all she could do was hope he wasn’t aiming at her.

He wasn’t.  Stheno cried out in pain, and fell to the road as a shower of dust.  But she had started reforming before Annabeth had even made it through the next lane of traffic.  She was close enough to hear the boy’s noise of confusion.

And then she was there, meeting the two kids at the tunnel.  So tired she could barely talk, but she did manage, “Thanks.”

“That should have killed her!” he protested.

“Get used to it,” Annabeth said grimly.  “Do I get to put you down now?”

“Not at all,” laughed June.  “We have a river to cross, after all.”

 _A river_.  Annabeth remembered Stheno’s shower of dust falling out of the sky and got an idea.

“You two,” she said.  “Will the borders keep the Gorgons out?”

“ _We’re_ supposed to,” said the girl warily.  “But if they can’t be killed” –

“I have an idea,” Annabeth said.  “There’s a river?”

“Yeah.”  The girl gestured up ahead.  “The Little Tiber.  But” –

“They’ll follow me,” Annabeth knew.  “If you two stay out of sight, track them until I’m in the river, and shoot them right above the water – it’ll have to be a killing shot, but” –

“I can do it,” the guy promised.  “Hazel” –

“I’ll help you hide, hold them back if I can.”  She gestured.  “Through the tunnel up ahead, straight on forward until you find the river.”

“Perfect.”  Annabeth hefted June higher on her shoulders.  “Let’s do this.”

* * *

The river was not pleasant.

It wasn’t too fast, exactly, nor even too deep, but there was something about the way that it swirled around her that Annabeth didn’t like.  It could have been exhausted hallucinating, it could have been June’s now-sandbag-like weight on her shoulders, but it felt like it was warning her away.  Like it didn’t _like_ her.

She could hear noises from behind her; rumblings in the tunnel, yelling gorgons.  She couldn’t let them cross, though, so despite the unfriendly feeling of the water she reached the middle – the deepest part – and waited.  Water rushed by her, pulling at her tattered shirt; freezing coldness soaked into her legs, up to her waist, but she waited.

“Ha!” came a shriek from right above her.  Euryale had arrived, Stheno right behind her.  “Now, Annabeth Chase, you will” –

 _Thunk-thunk_.  Annabeth jumped out of the way as two arrows, shot so quickly and in succession that she marveled, sank into the Gorgons one after another.  Right above where she had been standing, dust showered into the water.

She heard wailing, but the river churned the dust around in circles, keeping it separate, and soon enough, two of Annabeth’s three tormentors were swept away down the river.

The third, of course, was still on her shoulders, but Annabeth had finally staggered the rest of the way across the river, and it was only dignity that kept her from collapsing on the bank.  “Can I put you down _now_?” she bit out.

The lady smiled and began to climb down from her back while the other two caught up to them.  “Nice shooting,” Annabeth said to the archer.

“Nice _thinking_ ,” he responded.  “How’d you think of using the river” –

But other people were arriving now.  Hordes of them, in fact, all in purple shirts like the ones Annabeth’s saviors were wearing.  All staring, and talking, and trying to ask questions –

It was so much that Annabeth swayed with exhaustion.  Maybe this time she would have even crumpled to the ground, but June caused a distraction by changing form.  Growing to several feet taller, a staff appearing in her hand and an animal-skin cloak around her shoulders.  Gasps resounded, and the others began to sink to their knees.

Despite having wanted to be on the ground two seconds ago, now all Annabeth wanted to do was stand.  She refused to kneel to this lady she’d just lugged across a highway and a river.

“Juno,” spoke up a boy, awe in his voice.  “Lady” –

The goddess smiled.  “Romans, I present to you your newest camper.  She has been asleep for many months, but now she has come to you for the times ahead.  She may have been my second choice, but” –

“Hey!” Annabeth protested.  Carry a lady across a highway and a river, and then she introduces you as her second choice?  She really didn’t like this goddess.

“Meet Annabeth Chase,” the goddess Juno interrupted, smiling wickedly, “Daughter of Minerva.”

More gasps.  In the midst of the shock, the goddess disappeared.

Okay, so apparently there was something wrong with being a child of Minerva.  For some reason, Annabeth’s brain wanted to correct that name even more vehemently than it did any of the others – _Athena,_ it insisted, _not Minerva, Athena_ – and maybe this was somehow related to that?  Either way, she knew she didn’t like being whispered about, and the quiet, “Minerva?” – “How?” – “What?” did not make her feel any better.

But she was so very tired, and cold, and wet.  Her pants clung uncomfortably to her legs, still dripping river water.  She lifted an arm to press a hand to her forehead, and grimaced as she hit yet another bruise at her hairline.  “Look,” she said tiredly, “I’m not sure what’s going on here, okay?  Frankly, I don’t even know who I am.  Who’s in charge here?”

A blond boy stepped forward, out of the crowd.  “I am,” he said. 

Annabeth sized him up.  He was fairly tall, and wearing a purple cape, but even if not for those, Annabeth would have known he was a leader.  It was something about the way he held himself: straight posture, confidence in the set of his face, and a deep, deep tiredness in the lines around his eyes.

His _eyes_.

When she saw them, she staggered.  Bright blue, almost electric – a wave of something hit her mind, like a really, really strong déjà vu.  “I know” – She had to stop after just those two words, because she didn’t.  Not really.  “Not you,” she finished lamely.  Stared hard at his eyes.  “But” –

“I’m Jason Grace,” he informed her.  “Praetor of the Twelfth Legion of Rome.  And it looks like you and I have some things to discuss.”


	2. Jason

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annabeth and Jason have a chat.

“So,” Jason said.

They were in the _principia_ : Jason, Annabeth, and Hazel.  The archer, Frank, had wanted to join them, but Jason had sent him off to look at armor, and Annabeth had only gotten a brief look at the camp so far – New Rome, they had called it – but it already looked amazing. Despite the fact that something about it still felt _off_ to Annabeth, she knew that she wanted to know more.

“So,” Annabeth echoed, as Jason sat down behind a desk.  There were two chairs behind it – high-backed, official-looking chairs – but Hazel remained standing, so Annabeth did the same.  She did lean on the desk, though, for support.  It had been a long few days.  “What are you going to do with me?”

“Well,” Jason shrugged, “I have to interrogate you first, so we can figure out the answer to that question.  You’re a demigod, obviously, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re friendly.  I ask you a few questions.  If you seem to be a friend, I let Hazel take you to our augur.  If you’re an enemy” –

“You kill me.”  Annabeth sighed.  It was a testament to the day she’d had that the news didn’t even evoke a particularly strong emotional reaction.  “Wonderful.”

“But probably not,” Hazel said quickly.  “Right, Jason?  I mean, she showed up with Juno.  That’s not normal.  Do you think this could have something to do with” –

“Reyna.”  Jason glanced at the empty chair, the determined lines of his face crumpling a little into an expression of worry and sadness.  “Believe me, Hazel, I’ve thought about it.  _Something’s_ going down, in any case.”  He snapped his fingers, and the two dog statues flanking the table came to life, growling and glaring at Annabeth.  She knew she should be wary of them, but something niggled at the back of her mind – like she knew how to tame scary dogs.

But she got the feeling that these would listen to Jason before they would to her, so she turned back to him – and was struck again by how familiar those eyes were.

She dragged herself back to the present.  “Reyna?” she asked.

“My fellow praetor.”  Again, Jason indicated the empty chair.  “She’s been missing for several months.  We’ve been looking for her, but” – He shrugged and sighed, that expression still on his face.  A question made its way to the tip of Annabeth’s tongue, but Jason looked back up at her.  “But your story first.  Tell me how you got here.”

So Annabeth told – not that there was much to tell.  She started with Lupa, but when she saw the recognition on his face, she skimmed over that part pretty quickly.  She focused more on the parts she didn’t know – waking up with no memory, being chased by gorgons, running into Juno at the highway.

“She was incredible,” Hazel interrupted.  “She carried her across the road and through the tunnel, and figured out how to get rid of the gorgons” –

“But they couldn’t die before that?”  Jason looked particularly concerned with that part.  “You said you’d killed them before, and they just came back to life?”

“They’d just crumble into dust,” Annabeth nodded, “and then reform again.  I don’t know why.  I figured the river would keep them from reforming for at least a while.”

“I guess you figured right.”  Jason managed a smile at her, but that slipped away pretty quickly.  “And you really remember nothing?”

“Well” – _Percy._   Percy _Jackson_ , she knew now, though she didn’t know much more than that.  Green eyes, seaweed – she remembered a hesitant smile, like he was staring at her and couldn’t believe it – “Hints,” she said finally, “here and there.”  Percy was private, she decided.  And she was afraid that if she spoke his name out loud, she would start to forget.  “I feel like I know you from somewhere, or someone related to you, but it’s not quite” –

He gave another shrug, this one helpless.  “I don’t know,” he admitted.  “I don’t have any relatives, as far as I know, and I know we’ve never met.  But I think you’re telling the truth, though that doesn’t help much.  This isn’t a normal situation.”

“What, don’t get many amnesiac demigods at your door?” Annabeth asked.

“It’s more than that.”  Jason stood up, as though too full of nervous energy to sit any longer.  “Juno herself came to us to announce your presence here.  The last time a major god visited us – yeah, it’s not usually a good omen.  And a daughter of Minerva” –

“What’s wrong with Minerva?” Annabeth asked, remembering all the murmurs.  “Why is that so weird?”

“Minerva’s a virgin goddess,” Jason reminded her. “Surely you read about that when studying with Lupa.  She swore never to have children.”

That – was strange.  Annabeth had read that, and she had suspected her own origins.  But for some reason, that incongruence had never stood out to her before.  Even now, even with it being directly pointed out to her, it still didn’t feel as wrong as it probably should.  “That’s . . . true,” she said slowly.  “I don’t know” –

“I don’t either,” Jason admitted.  “But whatever it means, it can’t be good.”

Abruptly, Annabeth remembered something else.  “A patron,” she said.  “I didn’t get much out of them, but the Gorgons talked about a patron who was supporting them, who told them” – Percy.  “Who told them I’d be here.  And when I asked who it was, they said she was right beneath my feet.  I wondered if it could be” – The thoughts were resolving themselves in her mind even as she spoke.  “I mean, my initial thought would be Ha – would be Pluto, in the Underworld, but he’s not a she.  So then I thought” –

“The earth herself,” Jason finished.  “Gaea.”

Annabeth nodded.

“Yes,” Jason said.  “It would make sense, and it would fit with the other warnings” –

“Other warnings?” Annabeth asked, but Jason just shook his head.

“The Feast of Fortuna is coming up,” he said.  “It’s when elections for a new praetor happen.  I’ve held Reyna’s spot open for as long as I could, but there are others.”  Hazel made a growling noise in her throat; Jason gave a little laugh-sigh and then continued, a bit louder.  “Others who’d love to take it for themselves.  And with Juno showing up, you coming here so soon before it” –

He stopped short, but it was all enough of a convergence for Annabeth.  “Something’s going to happen on that day,” she guessed.  “Camp is in danger?”

Jason dropped into his chair again.  “Look, please don’t mention this outside of here.”  His gaze took in Annabeth and Hazel.  “Either of you.  I’m not sure what’s going on, and camp doesn’t need any more chaos right now.”  He smiled sheepishly.  “I shouldn’t even be talking to you about this, considering that our augur hasn’t accepted you yet.  Reyna’s the one – Reyna was the one with the restraint.”

The smile faded away, and Hazel reached over to put a hand on his.  His head bent for a moment, and he took a deep breath.  Annabeth almost wanted to comfort him, too, but Hazel withdrew after only a moment and she knew it wasn’t her place.

Finally, Jason looked up again, smacking his hands decisively down on the desk and forcing another smile.  “Oh well – whatever.  We’ll figure it out.  For now, Hazel, take Annabeth to Octavian.  If the auguries are favorable, we’ll welcome her to the legion tonight.”


	3. Nico

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico discovers that Camp Jupiter has a new camper.

Nico had just come to Camp Jupiter to see his sister.  That was the only reason he ever came to camp, and he’d tried to make his visits as short as possible since December, especially given that Camp Half-Blood now knew it existed.

He hadn’t told them he’d known already.  He didn’t want to make trouble, really – he already had one goddess who regularly tried to turn him into non-human things; he didn’t need Hera on his back as well.  And he figured there were better emissaries from the Greeks than one child of Hades who wasn’t trusted very much anyway.

But all that was made about a thousand times more complicated when he came face to face with Annabeth Chase.

Of all the times for him to have come to Camp Jupiter, and of all the people for her to be walking with, of course it was now and of course it was Hazel.  Who hadn’t noticed Annabeth stopping in her tracks, and kept walking towards Nico.

He hugged her almost absent-mindedly – like every time, he couldn’t help the little spasm of shock and regret at the fact that she wasn’t Bianca, and like every time, he tried to force that thought down.  It was easier to do now than ever, what with Annabeth’s eyes locked onto his over Hazel’s shoulder.

“I know you,” she said as they separated.

“Do you?”  He cursed himself for being bad at lying, but looking at her face – it was bringing so much back.

_Percy’s eyes, wild with worry and shadowed with exhaustion.  His hair sticking up, not windswept but like he’d run his fingers through it a few too many times.  The Iris-message connection fuzzy, and Percy himself disheveled, but still good-looking enough to make Nico’s heart jolt painfully.  “Nico,” he said, “Annabeth’s missing.”_

She squinted at him.  “Definitely.”  She looked at Hazel, whose happiness had turned to confusion, and then back to Nico.  If her memory was gone, that would make it pretty clear that the others’ suspicions of Hera’s plan were true.  Nico hadn’t met Reyna, but he’d heard of the Roman girl who’d ended up at Camp Half-Blood with her memories missing.  Though he was pretty sure she’d gotten them back by now.

Annabeth was still talking.  “I don’t know where . . . We’ve met before, haven’t we?”

_“Missing?  From camp?”_

_“Yeah.”  Percy ran a hand through his hair again.  “We’ve looked everywhere at camp; her phone’s still in her drawers, and my Iris-messages aren’t contacting anything.  Like there’s no signal.  She hasn’t talked to anyone at camp; I called her dad” –_

_“I see.”  Nico didn’t want to be disappointed.  He was fully aware that his crush on Percy was stupid and hopeless, and he hadn’t born Annabeth any ill will for it.  Hard to hate someone whose first introduction into your life was saving you from a manticore.  But all the same – “So you want me to make sure she’s still alive?”_

_Percy groaned.  “Gods, don’t say it like that,” he mumbled.  “But – yes, please.”_

“No,” Nico tried to say lightly.  “You might have me confused with someone else” –

“Maybe.”  She squinted again.  “But I doubt it.”  She paused, as though reluctant to share the next part.  “Do you – would you happen to know someone named Percy Jackson?”

_“She’s not there, Percy.”_

_“Definitely not?”  Percy looked like he was trying really hard not to get his hopes up.  “You checked” –_

_“I checked everywhere.”  He’d been relieved at her absence, too.  Again, hard to hate.  “I don’t know where she is, but she’s alive.”_

_Percy sank his head into his hands and gave a sound like a relieved half-sob.  “Thank the gods.”_

“No,” he said quickly, but it was obvious.  It was way too obvious, and Annabeth was good at catching lies, anyway.  Should she have this much memory, though?  That didn’t seem like it was what was supposed to happen.  She’d recognized him, though she didn’t know his name; she knew something about Percy, though he didn’t know how much –

“You’re lying,” she said decisively.  “I’m sure I’ve met you before.  And you recognized the name.  Can we talk?  I don’t have any memories right now, and if you could help me with that, I’d really appreciate it.”

“I, uh” – Nico floundered.

Before he could get too stuck, he was rescued by an unlikely savior in the form of Frank.  “Hazel,” he called, coming up the hill.  “Annabeth?”  He stopped short when he reached them.  “Oh, hi, Nico.”

“Hey,” Nico responded, glad for the excuse to turn away from Annabeth’s piercing gray eyes.  He liked Frank – he was nice, and unassuming, and he didn’t make his excuses to get away from Nico like most campers did.  Sure, he was a little awkward around him, but that seemed to be less about Nico personally and more about his ability to interact with people in general.

“Jason sent me up here to get Annabeth.”  Frank turned his gaze on her.  “Did the augury go okay?”

Annabeth scowled.  “That depends on your definition of _okay_.”

“Octavian accepted her,” elaborated Hazel.  “But he was, um, his usual self.”

Frank nodded.  “Everyone hates Octavian.  Well, not everyone, but” –

“But the sensible people,” Annabeth finished for him.

“Exactly.”  Frank nodded.  “But as long as you’re in, that’s great!  We have to go get you cleaned up before evening muster.”

Nico barely held back a sigh of relief.  “Frank, why don’t you take Annabeth down?” he suggested, hoping they would go.  “Hazel and I will be along soon.”

Hazel cast him a nervous glance.  “That’s a good idea,” she said.  “Go ahead, guys.  We’ll catch up.”

“All right,” Annabeth said reluctantly, and then her eyes were boring into Nico’s again.  “I want to talk with you some more later, though.”  He cursed his poor lying skills.  “I _know_ I know you from somewhere.”

“Sure,” Nico agreed.  What else could he say?  “But later.  I’m staying overnight.”

“You are?” Hazel asked.

But Nico kept his eyes on Annabeth, willing her away.  “Go ahead and get cleaned up,” he said.  Then he turned to Hazel, and a different kind of dread sank in – a reminder of his purpose here.  “My sister and I need to talk.”


	4. Thalia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On her own Quest, Reyna encounters a Hunter of Artemis with strangely familiar eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just jumped around and wrote scenes that struck my fancy - and I actually think that once the exchange is discovered, and Reyna remembers who's at Camp Jupiter, Thalia would probably get much more involved.

As soon as the lead Hunter met her eyes, Reyna felt a shiver run down her whole body.

She _knew_ those eyes.  Nothing else about the face, nothing about the hair or body, but those eyes –

“You’re Thalia, right?” Piper said behind her.  “Leader of the Hunters?”

“Lieutenant,” Thalia corrected.  “Leader is Lady Artemis, of course.”  She scanned them.  “Are you from Camp Half-Blood?”

“Yeah,” Leo answered, his voice that same dreamy tone it had been with Khione, and Reyna would have smacked him one if not for the fact that her gaze was still fixed on Thalia’s face, trying to bring up a memory of something that she couldn’t quite manage.

It was so frustrating!  Talking to Lycaon, being _here_ – she could sense that she was closer than she’d been anywhere else to her missing memories, but she still couldn’t touch them.  Like she could practically see their outlines on the other side of a gauzy sheet, but the sheet was impossible to brush aside.

Thalia turned to Reyna – who realized that the others had all exchanged names and were waiting on hers.  “I’m Reyna,” she managed, trying to snap herself back into the present.

Thalia frowned at her.  “You’re staring,” she said.  “Am I supposed to know you from somewhere?”

“I don’t think so,” Reyna forced out.  “But” – Those _eyes_.  “Do you have any relatives or something?”

Thalia’s face closed up immediately.  “No,” she said shortly.

“But” –

“Stop talking,” she advised, and despite the memories she was desperately trying to shake loose, Reyna did.


	5. Duty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reyna's attempt to contact Camp Jupiter is foiled.

The thing about Camp Half-Blood was that there wasn’t much privacy.

Reyna knew she’d spent plenty of time in barracks before, but once she’d been made praetor she’d reveled in having her own villa, her own space.  Now, having to share a cabin with a bunch of gray-eyed campers who got way too excited about Capture-the-Flag plans – well, Reyna could strategize with the best of them, but she preferred action to theory, and Athena’s cabin – while better than Ares – was much more the latter.

And the more pressing reason for Reyna’s irritation was that there was nowhere she could sneak away to try – yet again – to contact Camp Jupiter.

Her signals had all been blocked until now, but it wasn’t like she was going to stop trying.  And surely, since they were planning on heading out with their ship soon enough, this time she might be able to make it through.  The gods must be busy with other things, after all.

Percy had “let slip” that there was a fountain in his cabin, which he just so happened not to share with anyone else.  And he just happened to be teaching swordfighting in the arena right now –

She slipped into his cabin and wrinkled her nose.  He wasn’t much for cleanliness, was he?  Still, she couldn’t deny that there had been times she’d let her own rigid discipline slip and tossed clothes on the floor.  Either way, the most important destination was ahead of her.  The fountain.

She fished a drachma out of her pocket, aimed for the rainbow, and tossed it in.

“O Iris, goddess of the” –

“Nuh uh uh!”

The goddess appeared out of nowhere and scooped Reyna’s coin out of the air, looking at her and shaking her head.  “Would you stop that?” she scolded.  The lack of the goatskin cloak revealed pretty firmly that it was Hera, not Juno, although Reyna’s mind still itched to say the opposite.  “See, this is exactly why I wanted to switch the _boys_.”  She’d been vocally frustrated about that since the beginning – that somehow her spell had gone wrong and switched the wrong leaders.  “You two are much too rebellious.”

“All right,” Reyna said, trying to swallow down her irritation.  “I understand that you really, really hate Annabeth Chase.  But what have I done” –

“You won’t stop trying to mess with the plan!” Hera rolled her eyes.  “Jason would have done his duty.”

Reyna’s heart constricted.  Hera had thrown Jason’s name in there just to mess with her, she knew, especially since she was keeping Reyna from contacting him.  “My _duty_ ,” she ground out, “is to Rome.”

In a blink, Hera switched form: grew taller, Juno’s goatskin cloak appearing around her shoulders.  “Your duty,” she corrected, “is to the world, Reyna Ramirez-Arellano.  These forces are not yours to interfere with.  When your ship is finished, then you may contact your camp.  No sooner.”  Her eyes blazed.  “And don’t try your sister again, either.  I’m keeping a close eye on you.”

And, without any further words, she disappeared.

Reyna let her head drop into her hands.  Great.


	6. Hero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final battle at Camp Jupiter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told you we were skipping around. Also, I really just wanted Annabeth to get some accolades.
> 
> My thought, too, is that with Jason at Camp Jupiter and Reyna remembering it, Thalia would play a bigger role. So in this AU, instead of Tyson coming to help out at the battle, it's Thalia and the Hunters.

The ride back on Arion was made even more dizzying by the influx of memory into Annabeth’s head.

She knew her memories had started coming back with the Gorgon’s blood, and the meeting with Hylla had smacked a few more into it pretty violently, but she’d had things to do.  It was like her mind had decided that now, with four hours of just waiting, it was ready for all of her memories.

They came back in weird train-of-thought order, so Percy was first – considering how desperate she’d been to remember him – followed by Camp Half-Blood, followed by her arrival there.  A stab of pain at Thalia’s death followed closely by the memory of her resurrection, which was as emotionally confusing as it was mentally, and then backwards in time through her journey to camp, and then – last, though maybe they should have been first – her mortal family.

And she remembered the war with Kronos, the reason it had sounded so strange when Nico had talked about him disappearing.  And Nico – she remembered _him_ , too, all too clearly, and there was plenty of anger there as well.

And she realized now where the memories stopped.  December of last year.  Six whole months of her life, just whisked away.  Leaving her camp – her _home_ – alone, without her.

Leaving Percy without her.

Oh, she might be angry at Nico, but she was _furious_ with Hera.

So when they finally stopped above the Caldecott Tunnel and spilled off of Arion’s back, it wasn’t because of her stiff legs that Annabeth could barely stand.

But before they could even look to the battle, the sound of a hunting horn split the air, and when Annabeth turned, she saw a face she hadn’t been expecting – but one closer to her consciousness after those few hours of memory-flow.

“ _Thalia?_ ”

The Lieutenant of Artemis grinned, rushed forward, and enveloped Annabeth in a giant hug.  “Hey, little sister,” she said.  “Long time, no see.”

“Thalia, I can’t believe you’re – wait, do you know about Camp Jupiter?”

“We’re on our way there now,” said Thalia, releasing her.  “I heard my little brother might need some help.”

“Your” – Brother.  _Grace_.  Suddenly, Annabeth knew where she’d seen Jason’s blue eyes before.  “Jason is your” –

Thalia nodded.  “Long lost.  But we figured out where you were when Reyna showed up at Camp Half-Blood – I assume you’ve figured that out?”

Annabeth nodded.  Hera’s plan had revealed itself to her on the ride along with her memories, and she’d figured that Reyna had probably ended up at Camp Half-Blood.  “Yeah, I guessed there was some kind of a swap going on.”

“Guys,” Hazel called from the edge of the tunnel, looking over at the battle.  “Talk later.  Rush in to help Rome now.”

* * *

Annabeth supposed there were worse ways to charge into battle than with a long-lost eagle and a group of fresh reinforcements.  The Hunters fought as ferociously as Annabeth remembered, bows zipping in unerring lines to vaporize centaurs, lodge in Cyclopes’ eyes.  Hazel rode Arion into battle; Frank transformed into a bald eagle – and Annabeth carried the golden one, raised high above her head.

Arion had agreed to pull the chariot just a bit further, just to the edges of the battle, and when they met up with the Fifth Cohort, they distributed the weapons to them first.  Jason flew above the battle, lightning crackling around him, and Annabeth watched as the lightning network grew wider.  She looked down to see Thalia standing on the other end of the battlefield, arms raised.

Instinctively, she held up the eagle.  It glowed in the lightning, connecting, and then the network expanded.  Now there were three distinct points from which a net of lightning crackled in the air, and Annabeth knew she – through the eagle – was the conduit.  The noise stopped for a moment.  Everyone, even the monsters, turned to look.

Feeling more powerful than she ever had in her life, Annabeth cried, “Twelfth Legion Fulminata!” and the lightning let loose.

It was the equalizer they’d been looking for.  Lines and lines of monsters crumbled to dust – and now, because of Thanatos, they would stay that way.  Half the battlefield was reduced to ash.

But it was draining.  As Annabeth’s hair settled down again, she looked around and realized Jason was no longer in the air.  Thalia, too, on the other end of the battlefield, had fallen to her knees – a ring of Hunters flanked her, bows at the ready.  Even Annabeth, though she’d only been a conduit, suddenly felt like all she wanted to do was take a nap.

But the rest of the Romans were energized. “Rome!” they screamed.  “Rome!” and charged at the monsters with fresh verve – energy that was only increased at the arrival of Amazon forces led by Queen Hylla.

Annabeth looked around.  Dakota was near her, his eyes, too, vibrant with energy.  “Take this,” she said.  “Senior centurion of the Fifth Cohort, I give you the standard to carry into battle.”

His eyes glowed.  “I will carry it with pride,” he promised, taking the eagle from her hands.

That gone, Annabeth drew her knife and looked for the giant.  He was _hers_.

Polybotes wasn’t Athena’s opposite, she knew.  He was meant to face Poseidon, or a child of the sea god.  And she knew that was why everyone had been so disappointed when they’d met her, instead.  Somehow, her presence here had been a mistake – because according to all the stories, it had all been set up symbolically for Percy instead.

Well, every master strategist knew it was best to shake things up once in awhile.

Polybotes had wanted to face a child of the sea god?  He had no _idea_ what he was getting with Annabeth.

Her weapon wasn’t meant for combat with a giant, but he was expecting direct combat, not strategy.  She approached him – his height, as everything, superior, but that was good, too.  Knife gripped firmly in her hand, she drew upon a sense memory she’d just recovered, déjà vu guiding her motions as her knife sank into the fleshy part of his ankle, just behind the bone.

Then she ran.

Her plan required angering two immortal beings.  Luckily for her, Annabeth had learned from a master.  Polybotes made one, and now she just had to reach the second before he killed her.

But Annabeth was fast.  She remembered footraces at Camp Half-Blood, the way she’d always beaten Percy.  Never faster than the dryads, but almost no one was.  And she was fast enough to beat Polybotes to the Pomerian Line.

“Hey, Terminus!” she screamed as she approached.  “Little help here?”

The god just frowned.  “Annabeth Chase!” he scolded.  “You know you’re not to bring weapons inside the Pomerian Line!”

“We’re under attack!” she protested.  She’d figured he wouldn’t be helpful unless persuaded, but she’d hoped she _could_ persuade him before falling back onto the backup plan.

“That’s no excuse!” he snapped.  “You know, rules are rules!”

“I know,” she said, “but see, there’s this giant” –

And then she didn’t need to say anything else, because Polybotes was upon them.

He bore down on Annabeth with his sword, and she jumped out of the way, managing to slice another thin line in his lower leg as she did so.  He howled in pain and shook his head, basilisks falling out of his hair.

“Get back!” Frank yelled, and shifted into a weasel.  Annabeth was still mostly focused on the angry giant, but she grinned as the basilisks fled his rodent attack.  Polybotes frowned at how easily his pets ran away, but before he could send out any more, Annabeth stabbed him again.

Around them, the battle was winding down, but everyone waited as Annabeth danced around Polybotes’ legs, stinging with her blade, gradually moving him closer and closer –

And then, as he lunged for her one last time, she stepped aside and his foot was over the Pomerian Line.

Terminus appeared in front of him.  “How dare you?” he squawked in outrage.  “No weapons are allowed” –

For a moment, Polybotes was distracted from Annabeth.  He turned to Terminus in confusion.  “What are you?” he asked, while Annabeth looked around for something she could use.  “Shut up!”  He pushed the statue out of the way.

Terminus gasped in outrage.  “Now I’m MAD!” he cried.  “I’m strangling you right now!  Feel that?  Those are my hands around your neck!”

Luckily, it kept Polybotes distracted for just a little longer – even if only because he was laughing.  It was time enough for Annabeth to spot what she needed – a fallen pilum.

She only had seconds to gauge the angle – shoulder height, a tree on the other side of Polybotes that should hold just for long enough –

She stabbed him again, using the same tactics she’d used on the Gorgons to get into position, and he looked up from breaking Terminus’ head off of his statue to attack her – and then she moved.

She whipped the pilum out, bracing its other end against the tree which, thankfully, was close enough, and when the giant lunged, she _held_.  Too late to change position, his foot caught on the edge of the pilum, he lost his balance, and – unable to keep himself up, he fell with a resounding thud to the ground.

Now she had to move fast.  Running the length of his body, she stabbed him here and there so that he was too distracted swatting her to get up.  “Terminus?” she cried.  “Do we have a deal?”

“Fine!” he called back.  “This upstart deserves to die.  Let’s kill him!”

“Working on it!”  She’d arrived at her goal, and Polybotes realized what was happening too late.  Before he could stop her, she drove her knife deep into the side of his throat, right into his jugular.

Blood poured out faster than she’d thought, and she scrambled to the side to avoid it.  Still, despite groans of pain, he laughed.  “You think a wound like that will kill me, daughter of Athena?” he groaned.  “Well, you need a god to defeat me!”

“Oh, do I?” said Annabeth innocently, grabbing the head that had broken off of Terminus’ statue.  The broken place was jagged and sharp – perfect.  “Well, look what I have!”

And before Polybotes could do more than widen his eyes in shock, she dragged the broken piece of head along the cut she’d made, widening and deepening it.  And Polybotes dissolved into a steaming pile of sea waste.

Annabeth stumbled backwards and put a hand on Terminus’ headless statue to steady herself.  “Thanks,” she told it.

“You’re welcome!” squawked the head from next to Polybotes’ remains.  “Now would someone please remove me from this pile of muck!”

But no one did.  The Romans were too busy mobbing Annabeth.

This wasn’t something she was used to.  She had never been the big hero, always the background brains or the backup knife.  But now the Romans were screaming her name, raising her up, unsteady on a platform of shields.  Jason’s hand had found hers, holding it in the air, Thalia’s face was beaming up at her, and the screams changed to, “Praetor!  Praetor!”

Annabeth blinked.  It was too much to take in, after the lukewarm reception she’d received as a “daughter of Minerva.”  But over the crowd, she could see Octavian scowling, his lips not moving, and her surprise turned into a grin.  Being a hero was new to her, but leading – that she knew she could do.

So she squeezed Jason’s hand back, and kept smiling as they carried her all around the Pomerian line and back to camp.


	7. Contact

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Camp Jupiter receives a video scroll about a Greek warship.

The message came fluttering out of the air and landed in Annabeth’s hand.

She glanced back and forth between Frank and Hazel, both of whom looked as confused as she did.  As a rule, she didn’t like surprises.  But there had been enough of them these last few days – not least Thalia – that she figured she should probably open it.  Especially if it had come to her.  She couldn’t dare hope –

But it was.  She opened it and sucked in a breath; beside her she heard Hazel doing the same.

Percy was staring out of the scroll – it seemed, directly into her eyes.  Next to him was a regal-looking dark-haired girl.  She looked vaguely familiar to Annabeth, and she remembered her encounter with Hylla.  This must be Reyna.

And this must be their final proof that she had been sent to Camp Half-Blood.

Percy spoke first.  “Is this thing on?” he asked, turning his head sideways to study it, and Annabeth almost broke down into tears right then.  “How do I” –

Reyna rolled her eyes.  “Camp Jupiter,” she said, and her voice was that of someone used to being heard and obeyed.  “This is a message for Jason Grace – assuming he’s still alive.”  Her voice faltered for a moment.

“Wait,” Frank muttered, “is that” –

“Reyna,” Hazel whispered.

Percy took up the thread.  “I’m Percy Jackson,” he said.  “I’m a Greek demigod, a son of Poseidon.  Reyna and I, and two other people, are coming to your camp.  We’re about two hours away on this giant warship, so it’d be great if you’d, you know, not shoot us out of the sky.”

“We’ll land outside the Pomerian line,” Reyna picked up, her face gone smooth again.  “I’ve been prevented from contacting you until now, but I promise I’ll fill you in on everything once we’ve arrived.  For now, we hope you’ll be willing to listen to us.”

“And,” said Percy hurriedly, “if Annabeth’s there . . .” Again, it was like he was looking directly into Annabeth’s eyes, and her heart jumped a bit.  “Um, if you have your memories, I – I missed you.”

She choked up.  She’d been so concerned about missing Percy, about figuring out who he was, that she hadn’t thought about what it must have been like on the other end.  It had been months, she knew, since she’d vanished – had he been worried this whole time?  Had he thought she wouldn’t remember him?

“I missed you, too,” she whispered, not caring that Frank and Hazel were there.  She lifted a hand to touch his face on the scroll, but before her fingers could make contact, he disappeared.  The scroll wiped itself blank, and all that was left was a button in the center that read PLAY AGAIN.

She wanted to, but she forced herself to roll the message back up.  “Well,” she said, standing, “I guess we’d better get this to Jason.”


	8. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Greeks arrive . . . with Reyna.

The ship landed outside the Pomerian line, and the Romans were waiting.

Annabeth stood in front with Jason.  The toga fit oddly; she couldn’t help flexing her bare arm, feeling like something had slid off of it, and the praetor’s cape draped around her shoulders still felt wrong, like she wasn’t right for this position.  Jason had explained that Reyna was a daughter of Bellona, and Annabeth knew now that she was fully Greek – a child of _Athena_ , not Minerva.  This cape belonged on Reyna’s shoulders, not Annabeth’s, she knew.  But she also knew: better herself than Octavian, so she hadn’t protested when they’d hoisted her up on that shield.

Next to her, Jason was rigid.  “You okay?” she whispered to him.

“I’m fine,” he said, as though trying to convince himself more than her.

She reached down, fumbling aside layers of cloth to squeeze his hand.  “It’ll be okay,” she promised, though she had no idea.  Next second, though, she was letting go of him and freezing up herself, because they were disembarking.

Percy was first, and seeing him for real was like a punch to the gut. Annabeth’s breath whooshed out of her; she didn’t double over, but she did lurch a little.  Jason looked over at her, and for a moment their eyes met with perfect understanding, especially when Reyna followed closely behind him, with two others that Annabeth didn’t recognize bringing up the rear.  The four of them spread out, standing in a line across from the Roman group.  They were close enough to speak, but the distance between Roman and Greek was obvious.  And too much.

For a moment, no one spoke.  Annabeth’s eyes locked onto Percy’s.  He offered her a smile – tentative, hopeful.  The smile she’d remembered when almost nothing else was left to her.

“Reyna,” Jason started, voice clipped, the need to be formal obviously costing him.  “My former colleague,” and Annabeth was running.

She and Percy collided at a point about equidistant between the Greeks and the Romans, slamming so hard into each other that they would have bounced apart if they hadn’t clung so tightly together.  She held him hard, hands gathering fistfuls of his Camp Half-Blood shirt, and pressed her cheek against his.  His body was warm against hers, and he smelled like the sea.  “Seaweed Brain,” she whispered.

He laughed – a choked, half-laugh of disbelief.  When he pulled back – still holding her shoulders – she could see that his eyes were too bright.  “You remember.”

She managed to scoff past the lump rising in her own throat.  “Of course I remember.”

Now he frowned at her, his hands sliding down her arms to grab her wrists and twist them behind her back, pulling her into a tight hold.  There were yells on the Roman side; she could see some of them starting to rush forward, but Jason called out, “Hold!  Stand down!”

“Don’t ever leave like that again, okay?” Percy sounded angry, but she could hear the edge behind his voice.  Worry.  Relief.  A relaxing of something that had been tight for far too long.

And the same thing happened to her.  She laughed, and his hold relaxed as well.  “I don’t plan on it,” she said, twisting out of his grip to lay her arms over his shoulders again.  “I missed you, too.”

He was leaning closer, she was mimicking his movements, his eyes were half-closed – and the sound of a throat clearing interrupted them.  Everything rushed back in, and Annabeth realized where they were and what was going on.  She pulled back from Percy just a bit, but he grabbed her hand before she could pull away and held on tight – as did she.  She wasn’t letting him go again.

They still stood in the middle of no-man’s land between the Greeks and Romans, but Percy gestured the other Greeks forward, and Reyna led them, looking around.  There was a sparkle in her eyes, like she was glad to be home, and Annabeth understood that with the jealousy of one who hadn’t seen her own home in months.  “After that introduction,” Reyna said dryly.

But then Jason laughed, and moved forward to Annabeth’s level.  “Welcome home, Reyna,” he said, reaching out to shake her hand.  “It’s good to see you again.”

“And you,” she responded, holding on for a little too long.  “Romans, this is Percy Jackson, who” – She paused.  “I would say he doesn’t normally act like that, but I suspect opening with a lie would be a poor start to camp relations.”

“Hey!” Percy protested, and Annabeth laughed, reaching out with her free hand to shake Reyna’s.  She liked her already – had liked her since she’d found out who she was.

Reyna gripped her hand firmly, eyes flicking to the cape on Annabeth’s shoulders with a mixture of jealousy and approval.  “Annabeth Chase, I assume?” she said.  “And this is Piper McLean” – The other girl – Annabeth didn’t know her, which meant she must have been new to camp – waved – “And Leo Valdez.”  The boy flashed a peace sign.

“Well,” Jason said from beside Annabeth, “it looks like we have a lot to talk about.”  He glanced around.  “Let’s set up a feast, so we don’t have to do it on empty stomachs.”

“Excuse me?”

Annabeth sighed.  She’d been wondering when Octavian would speak up.  Now he was looking incredulously at Jason.  “With all due respect” – he put a heavy emphasis on the _due_ – “you’re just going to let them in?  The Greeks – our enemies for millennia – who came on a warship to attack us?  You’re going to treat them as friends?”

Jason sighed.  “The Greeks have come in peace, and they’ve brought our missing praetor back with them,” he said.  “And we’re not letting them into the city.  We’ll eat here, in the forum.”

“Shouldn’t you be sacrificing to the gods, anyway?” asked Annabeth.  “In thanks for Reyna’s safe return?  I know you were very concerned about how New Rome was running without her.”

Both Jason and Reyna turned to stare at Annabeth – Jason grinning, Reyna with a surprised look of what seemed to be respect.  “Good idea,” said Jason.  “We’ll set up the feast here, and you can join us when you finish.”

Octavian glared at them, but there was nothing he could do.  He turned and trudged off in the direction of the temples.

“Thanks, Annabeth,” Jason said.

“Yeah,” Percy echoed.  “Uh, since when did you start wearing bedsheets?”

“It’s a toga,” Reyna answered, before Annabeth could.  “They raised her to praetor.”  She met Annabeth’s eyes, and before Annabeth could even steel herself, she said, “Thank you.”

Annabeth blinked. “For stealing your job?”

“For – covering my shift, if you will,” Reyna said.  “For being made praetor before Octavian could usurp the position – I assume he wanted to?”  The last bit was directed towards Jason; he laughed again and finally reached out to draw Reyna into a hug.

She froze for a moment before responding.  “Not very formal of you, Praetor Grace.”

“You were always better with the formality than I was,” he said easily.  Then, quieter, and Annabeth felt like she was intruding, “I missed you.”

After a moment, Reyna’s eyes closed, and she rested her head on Jason’s shoulder.  “I missed you, too.”


End file.
